Electric sign.



1,217,715; Patented Feb. 27,1917.

8. G. CRANE.

ELECTRIC SIGN. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 11. 1913.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

01110, Assmnon, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO TOLEDO scam; com any, or NEWARK, Nnw fmtsmr; 4 conronx'rron or NEW mnsnr.

Emerald sreiw.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 27, 1917.

Application filed February 17, 1513. Serial No. 748,881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL G. CRANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at T0: ledo, county of Lucas, and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Signs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention more particularly relates to electric signs in which a series of lamps are illuminated in order and extinguished together, the initiation. of the illumination being controlled by a switch which maybe closed by hand or automatically but preferably by some instrumentality operating at irregular intervals. In the accompanying drawings I have shown a weighing scale as the device for closing the switch to start the operation of the device, but this is for the purpose of exemplification only and my present invention has nothing whatever to do with the particular means by which the switch is operated or the character of the switch itself. Though I have illustrated a preferred form of the invention, it will be obvious upon an understanding of the same that it may take a great variety of other forms and modifications and I am not limited to the particular form disclosed. The scope of my invention is defined in the claims following the detailed description in such terms as to distinguish it from the prior art so far as known to me, though it is not my intention to relinquish or abandon any portion'of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, F igure 1 illustrates my advertising device in perspective; Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of the circuits and connectlons; and Fig. 3 a detail of the relay employed in connection with the device. As shown in Fig. 1 the advertising device defined comprises a shallow box or housing A subdlvided by partitions B intoa series of noncommunicating chambers C, each of which is provided at the face of the box with a pane D of glass or other transparent material upon which is suitably printed for display purposes the advertising matter to which it is desired to draw attention. Each of these boxes contains an electric lamp E, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and one or more relays, the construction and connection being such that the lamps are 1llum1- nated in order from the top compartment expansion wire I.

down, so that the panes or panels are successively illuminated until the entire sign is visibile. The lamps are then extinguished simultaneously and are re-lighted only when the above mentioned switch is again closed. As heretofore stated, the connections of these lamps are shown in diagram in Fig. 2, but for the sake of clearness, before describing the electric circuits and connections I will briefly disclose the nature of these relays which are substantially identical except for that in the lowermost compartment which differs from the others in a manner which will be pointed out. Referring now to Fig. 3 the support for the relay is lettered F and is U-shaped, the bottom of the U being adapted to be secured to the bottom of a compartment. Upon the shorter limb F of the relay, but insulated therefrom, is the stationary post G which may be electrically connected to a wire or other conductor by the nuts H and is perforated or notched at its upper end to receive one end of the To the other and longer leg F of the U is attached a resilient contact member K which is likewise insulated from the support and ma be connected with a wire L by means of tlie'binding nuts N. The outer end of the resilient contact member K is also notched or perforated and between it and the rigid post G extends the expansion wire I which is up-set or headed at its opposite ends I -I and normally serves to hold the resilient contact member K away from the adjustable stationary contact O. The latter consists of a thumb screw and is in electrical connection with a conductor wire \P through the barrel Q, in which it is threaded. The resilient member K and stationary contact 0 are furnished with platinum contact points R. The expansion wire I is preferably formed of metal of relatively high resistance and coefiicient of expansion and normally holds the resilient member away from the stationary contact. When, however, current is passed through the closed circuit of the relay comprising post G, wire I, and resilient member K to the connecting wire L, the wire I expands and permits the resilient member to engage the contact screw 0. A shunt is in this manner formed from the connecting Wire L through resilient-member K and contact screw 0 to the wire P.

As heretofore stated, each of the relays which I have numbered for convenience 1' 2-':'i--l'-;)-6, are of the construction just described. But in addition thereto is the relay 7 which is arranged in connection with the last lamp of the series and which differs from the others in that the resilient memher K is arranged on the outside of the branch F and tends to open the circuit but is normally held closed by the expansion wire. The reason for this diiierence in construction and mode of operatio will appear latter. At the top of the boxing or housing in F igf 1 appear two connection sockets S-'l into the latter of which is plugged the connection to the service line, while into theformer is plugged the connection to the scale indicated at U in the diagrammatic Fig. 2. The particular location of the relays is immaterial but in the diagrammatic view they are shown as located adjacent the lamps with which they severally are most nearly connected in operation. The electrical connections of the parts can be seen in Fig. 2 and best understood in connection with a description of the operation of the system. The circuit including the lamps is normally open at the switch controlled by the scale or other switch operating means. When, however, the switch is closed by tilting the scale beam, if a scale is the instrumentality employed for this purose, connection is made from the rightand contact of the socket T through the conductor Z), the post G. expansion wire I, resilient contact K, and connection M of relay 1, wire a, lefthand contact of the socket S, the scale switch U, righthand contact of the socket S, and lefthand contact of the socket T to service. This circuit remains closed as long. as the scale switchis closed which ordinarily would be for but a briei interval of time. The relay 1 is, how-ever, so designed and adjusted that the ordinary interval during which the scale switch is closed is suliicient to cause the wire ll to be expanded suiiiciently to cause the resilient contact of such relay to bear upon the stationary contact thereof, thus completing a shunt circuit about the scale switch and permitting a flow of current from the conductor I) through the expansion wire, resilient member and stationary contact of relay 1, wire 0, lamp d and wire 0 to relay 2. The current passes through the expansion wire and resilient member of relay 2 to the conductor f and thence to the stationary contact and resilient member of the relay 7, which it will be remembered is normally closed, to conductor g and thence to the righthand contact of socket s and to the service socket T. The lamp d is illuminated and the expansion wire of relay 2 heated by the passage of the current through this circuit. .ALS the result of the heating of the expansion wire the contacts of relay 2 are closed by which a circuit is formed from wire I) through wire 1', lamp h to relay 3, through post Gr, expansion wire and resilient member to said relay, through wire Z, the fixed and resilient contacts of relay 2, wire f, the fixed and resilient contacts of relay 7 wire 9 and back to service. The lamp h is thus illuminated at a predetermined period after 4 lamp d,.which remains lighted and also the expansion wire of relay 3 is heated permltting the contacts of such relay to close.

path for the current is thus closed from wire I) through connection wiren, lamp m, wire 0, the expansion wire and resilient contact of relay 4, wire p, the contacts of relay 3, wire Z, contactsof relay2, wire 7, contacts of relay 7 and wire g, back to the service socket. The lamp m is thus illuminated in addition to the'lamps h and d and the expansion wire of relay 4 heated to close the contacts of said relay. In a similar manner the closure of the contacts of relay 4 by the passage of the current through the expansion wire thereof completes a path for the current from the wire 6 through the wire 9, lamp 4", wire a, the expansion wire and resilient member of relay 5, wire 2?, the contacts of relay 4, wire 10, contacts of relay 3, wire Z, contacts oi relay 2, Wire f, and contacts of relay 7 to Wire 9, and hence to the service socket. The passage of the current through this path lights the lamp 4 and closes the contacts of relay 5. V The series of lamps and relays might be extended to any desired number by obvious muliplication of the lamps, relays and connections above described. The 1 connections of the last twolamps of the series, however, differ from those above described for thepurpose of providing for the extinguishment of all the lamps of the series after a predetermined interval. For this purpose the connection for lighting the lamp u is as follows: by wire 11 to the contacts or relay 6, lamp a, wire w, to the contacts of relay 5 and hence as above described through the connections and contacts of the relays 4, 3 and 2, wire f, contacts of relay 7 and wire 9 to service. The lamp a is thus lighted and the expansion wire of relay '6 heated, thereby closing the contacts of relay 6 completing a circuit from wire 72 through wire w, contacts of relay 6, lamp m expansion wire and resilient contact of relay 7 andwire g back to service. Thus the last lamp of theseries is illuminated and the expansion wire of relay 7 heated causing the contacts of said relay to separate to break the circuit through all the lamps as well as through the expansion wire of the relay '7. As'the last named element cools it contracts and closes the contacts of relay 7. Ti in the meantime the switch at the scale is open the system remains at rest until the scale switch is again closed. If, however, the scale switch rethe illumination of the such connection could mains closed the above described cycle of operations is immediately repeated and continued indefinitely until the scale switch is again open, the lamps being lighted successively at intervals depending upon the character and adjustment of the relays. Obviously, however, the first lamp wound be relighted immediately upon closing of the contacts of the relay since with the switch at scale U constantly closed the expansion Wire of relay 1 would be constantly heated closing the contacts of said relay. Obviously if the system were intended to be operated Without interruption, that 1s to say, to successively light the lamps serz'atz'm until all are lighted and then extinguish them, a permanent connection-could be substituted for the scale switch U, or in other Words, be substituted for the socket S or an automatically operated and intermittently acting switch might be substituted for the switch U. The operation of the system may be made as rapid or as sluggish as desired by suitably choosing the materials and dimensions of the relay and particularly of the expansion wire thereof and by adjusting the stationary contact.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, a support, a post insulated therefrom, con-, nections from said post to a source of electrical energy, a resilient member carried by and insulated from said support, a connection from said resilient member to the source of electrical energy, an expansible electric conductor connecting the resilient member normally holding the re- 2. In a device of the class described, a support, a stationary post and a resilient conducting member carried by and insulated from the support, connections from said connecting the stationary post and resilient member, and normally holding the resilient member under tension, a second post carried by said support and having an adjustable contact thereon normally spaced from the resilient member, and an electrical connection from said adjustable contact.

Ina device of the class described, a support, a stationary post and a resilient conducting member carried by and insulated from the support, the post and resilient member being perforated adjacent their extremities, connections from said post and resilient member to a source of electrical energy, a headed expansible wire extending through the perforations in the post and resilient member, resilient member under tension, a second post carried by said support and having an adjustable contact thereon normally spaced from the resilient member, and an electrical connection from said adjustable contact.

4:. In a device of the class described, a support F having the arms F, F a resilient member carried by and insulated from the arm F a stationary contact carried by the arm F said resilient member being normally separated from and tending to bear upon said contact, a post carried by the arm F, a wire connecting said post and said resilient member and normally restraining the latter from contact with the stationary contact, and connections to said post, resilient member and contact respectively for first passing a current through said wire and member, and when said resilient member is in touch with said stationary contact through said wire, resilient member and contact.

SAMUEL G. CRANE. Witnesses:

EDWARD F. ULRICH, CLARENCE W. FESSENDEN.

and normally holding the 

